I picked up a few chicken crowns at the grocery store last week that were on for a really nice price. They were only £3. We like chicken in this house. I think it's probably the one protein we eat the most of.
A chicken crown is like a turkey crown except it's chicken. The legs are removed and in this case the wings as well. What you end up with is a nice compact sized roast, with the bone and skin intact, which you can still stuff if you like.
I created a simple bread stuffing for this one I cooked the other day. It was not a huge amount, just enough to slip between the skin and the meat of the chicken breast, but it helped to keep the chicken really nice and moist. With the excess amount, I simply grated a small sweet potato and mixed it in and then baked it in a casserole along side of the chicken. It was really tasty!
I made a tasty bread sauce to have as well. Bread sauce is a lovely sauce to have with poultry, believe it or not. It's not something which I had heard of before I moved over here to the UK. It's really delicious and so easy to make too.
You simply infuse some milk with the flavor of onion, cloves and bay leaf, and then whisk in cream and bread crumbs whilst reheating. It thickens up nicely and tastes just wonderful! It's amazing what you can do with just a few simple ingredients. I was impressed.
We ended up with a delicious dinner with well flavoured and moist chicken, and a beautiful stuffing, a lovely sauce and a fabulous gravy. We both enjoyed this very much. I do hope that you will give it a try. Oh, and that nice lovely crisp skin? I got that by rubbing a liquid stock pot into the skin prior to roasting it. DEEEEEE-licious!!
*Roast Stuffed Chicken Crown*Serves 4Printable Recipe
A moist and delicious chicken breast crown roasted with stuffing beneath the skin and served with a tasty bread sauce on the side and gravy.
1 large chicken crown (about 1 1/2 pounds)
For the stuffing:25g of butter (2 TBS)75g fresh soft white bread crumbs (1 1/2 cups)1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped1 Knorr liquid herb stock pot(alternately use 2 TBS chopped fresh parsley, 2 TBS chopped fresh tarragon, 1 egg yolk and salt and pepper to taste)
the finely grated zest of one unwaxed lemon1 Knorr liquid chicken stock potIn addition you will need one very small sweet potato, peeled and coarsely grated
For the Bread Sauce:1 small onion, studded with six whole cloves1 bay leaf broken300ml of whole milk (1 1/4 cups)150ml single cream (2/3 cup, light cream)115g of fresh white bread crumbs ( 2 cups)10 g of butter (scant TBS)
For the gravy:2 tsp plain flour300ml well flavoured chicken stock (1 1/4 cups)dash of madiera or sherry
Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Melt the butter in a pan and cook the onion, without colouring, until softened. Remove from the heat and stir in the stock pot and lemon zest. Allow to melt and then toss together with the bread crumbs. (Alternately mix with the chopped herbs, lemon zest. Allow to cool completely and then mix in the egg yolk, seasoning to taste with some salt and papper.) Loosen the skin from the chicken crown. Lightly stuff with some of the stuffing on both sides, keeping the skin intact and recovering it with the skin once stuffed. Rub the crown all over with the chicken stock pot. Place in a small roasting tin and loosely cover with foil. Mix the remaining stuffing with the grated sweet potato and put it into a small buttered casserole dish. Dot with butter and cover with foil. Put the chicken into the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Roast for one half hour. Remove the foil and return to the oven along with the casserole with the extra stuffing/sweet potato in it. Roast for one half hour further, or until the chicken is cooked through. The skin should be nicely browned and crisped and the stuffing cooked through.
One half hour before the chicken is done make the bread sauce. Put the clove studded onion into a small saucepan along with the milk and bay leaf. Bring just to the boil, then remove from the heat and set aside to infuse for half an hour. At the end of that time, strain the milk into a clean pan. Add the cream and bread crumbs. Bring to the boil, whisking constantly. Reduce the heat and allow to simmer for five minutes. Keep warm while you make the gravy.
Remove the chicken to a serving plate and tent with foil to keep warm. Pour off all but 1 TBS of drippings from the roasting tin. Place the tin over medium heat and whisk in the flour. Cook and stir for about a minute, until golden brown. Gradually whisk in the stock and cook, whisking constantly until the mixture has come to the boil and thickened. Whisk in the madiera or sherry. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed with salt and pepper. Cook for about five minutes on low heat.
To serve, cut the stuffed breast into slices and serve along with some extra stuffing a spoonful of bread sauce and some gravy. I like to have mashed potatoes and carrots with this.
